I have some fabulous news regarding my cancer, I am officially in remission yay!
Stats show that many more are surviving the scary big C. Who knows maybe one day one pill will fit all cancers.
As far as pancreatic cancer, my nemesis, to reach 2 years post diagnosis is an achievement, to be where I am today, 4 years post diagnosis, and in remission is a small miracle! Normally pancreatic isn’t normally diagnosed until it’s too late to help, I guess it’s sneaky, venamous and a silent killer.
So, why am I blessed to be in the 2% that gets to remission? I guess it’s a numbers game, pure chance, I had the right suite of cards in my hand. As my son says I am bloody stubborn, I just won’t lie down and give in. In this case thank goodness for being stubborn!
However, I am strongly aware that my Facebook friends have played a big part in this also, the messages of support urging me on through the dark days all helped, as did the love and support from those close to me.. thank you each and everyone of you.
As to the Parkinson’s, that has stayed relatively stable over the summer, still have sleepless nights, dystonia (cramps) and I do tend to get a little over anxious some days, but all in all the meds are doing their job, as long as I remember to take them on time!
One new development is that I know have a date December(4th) for my total knee replacement surgery, it has been rather painful over the summer out walking the hooligans in the woods and exploring bridleways around us, but I have been determined to keep mobile to keep my leg muscles strong as this can only help my recovery.
Well this has been a quick catch up, I intend to post at least monthly in the future, and whilst recovering from my knee surgery I am determined to use this time to crack on with my book!
Please feel free to share this post and if anyone wishes to contact me please do so tonybaxter54@outlook.com
Thank you for taking the time to get a little insight in my life, bless you all.
Tony.
Saturday 27 October 2018
Friday 1 June 2018
Where I am now June 1st 2018
It has been some time since my last post, I am finding life is getting somewhat overwhelming, and I seem to jump from crisis into crisis instead of being methodical and organised!
I am now waiting for a date for a total knee replacement on top of cancer and Parkinsons, am I just a tough old sod who won't lie down or am I tough and have a spirit of steel that will not give in? I think I swing from one to the other.
Mind you, I have moved house at long last and we are now in a nice ground floor flat in an idyllic Cornish village with loads of bridleways and footpaths and close to the Pentewan valley nature trail where I take the hooligans a lot. Gemma has settled in well and she comes back on a Friday like a whirlwind! Max the hooligan has also settled in well, though Perdy seems to be taking much longer, maybe it's her age or perhaps she just doesn't like change.
So, if you are following this blog you may have Parkinson`s or care for someone with PD, so where am I now since my last instalment? Well, my voice is getting quieter, a common symptom, I also recognise I get very flustered talking to people on the phone, something that was never a problem in the past. I had to speak to an advisor from my building society today, and I now make sure they know about the PD, almost using it as an excuse for my jumbled speech, then I feel they are patronising me which I hate lol I just cannot win! I find myself avoiding large crowds, I hate it, almost claustrophobic. I am happiest out with my dogs in the woods, although it hurts my knee, I don`t have to put a social mask on. Am I getting a loner? maybe so, I recognise that isn`t a good thing, so maybe that`s good too. I wish James and Christy lived a bit closer, but that`s something I cannot change.
My medication regime seems to be getting larger as time goes on, I see this as a double-edged sword though. I feel the PD is fairly well controlled by the meds, but some of you will know I have Gastric Dumping Syndrome which seems to be tied in with the cancer surgery, basically, I slowly get a build up of gastric bile which then has to come out, hence `dumping`. It is very unpleasant and knocks me back for a day. I am starting to recognise the symptoms now, the bile burning the back of my throat, my ears start screaming as in tinnitus and I get very withdrawn and sleepy. Once it is evacuated my body, I need to sleep.
It`s questionable if it's a diabetic or pre-diabetic but I am trying to modify my choice of food and make sensible choices avoiding too much sugars etc. My Daughter In Law has sent me a book; The 8-week blood sugar diet, so I am trying to adopt some of the advice in there. If it is to do with the cancer surgery, I am concerned about that too, I seem to be in remission at the moment, but aware Pancreatic cancer is capable of some nasty surprises.
I do wonder though if the increased meds and all that alkaline etc in my system will aggravate the dumping syndrome or not. Mind you, I know a lot of people with PD suffer from nausea too, so is my diagnosis right or wrong?
Going back to the PD, and my online support group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/174448966439575/ Parkinsons Support and Friendship UK,
I see daily the negative effect PD has on my friends. Depression and anxiety is high among group members, from slight depression and worry to full-blown anxiety which can be so destructive.
https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/information-and-support/anxiety
It is widely recognised and acknowledged, and from sufferers family perspective must be so cruel.
So, as to the immediate future, I need to get my knee replacement done so I can start to recover, but talking to the medical secretary it ain't gonna be soon. Treliske put a stop on elective surgery in the spring to save money and to help the very busy A&E department. They still have not caught up so she suggests it will be months not weeks before I get a date. Not helping this is the fact I tested MRSA-positive so can only have the surgery in Treliske Hospital so a long wait is still ahead I fear.
Well, this has been a bit of a catch-up, thanks for reading, do feel free to share this blog with others.
I will post an update very soon and maybe some more poetry.... you have been warned lol
Take care one and all and be nice to each other.
I am now waiting for a date for a total knee replacement on top of cancer and Parkinsons, am I just a tough old sod who won't lie down or am I tough and have a spirit of steel that will not give in? I think I swing from one to the other.
Mind you, I have moved house at long last and we are now in a nice ground floor flat in an idyllic Cornish village with loads of bridleways and footpaths and close to the Pentewan valley nature trail where I take the hooligans a lot. Gemma has settled in well and she comes back on a Friday like a whirlwind! Max the hooligan has also settled in well, though Perdy seems to be taking much longer, maybe it's her age or perhaps she just doesn't like change.
So, if you are following this blog you may have Parkinson`s or care for someone with PD, so where am I now since my last instalment? Well, my voice is getting quieter, a common symptom, I also recognise I get very flustered talking to people on the phone, something that was never a problem in the past. I had to speak to an advisor from my building society today, and I now make sure they know about the PD, almost using it as an excuse for my jumbled speech, then I feel they are patronising me which I hate lol I just cannot win! I find myself avoiding large crowds, I hate it, almost claustrophobic. I am happiest out with my dogs in the woods, although it hurts my knee, I don`t have to put a social mask on. Am I getting a loner? maybe so, I recognise that isn`t a good thing, so maybe that`s good too. I wish James and Christy lived a bit closer, but that`s something I cannot change.
My medication regime seems to be getting larger as time goes on, I see this as a double-edged sword though. I feel the PD is fairly well controlled by the meds, but some of you will know I have Gastric Dumping Syndrome which seems to be tied in with the cancer surgery, basically, I slowly get a build up of gastric bile which then has to come out, hence `dumping`. It is very unpleasant and knocks me back for a day. I am starting to recognise the symptoms now, the bile burning the back of my throat, my ears start screaming as in tinnitus and I get very withdrawn and sleepy. Once it is evacuated my body, I need to sleep.
It`s questionable if it's a diabetic or pre-diabetic but I am trying to modify my choice of food and make sensible choices avoiding too much sugars etc. My Daughter In Law has sent me a book; The 8-week blood sugar diet, so I am trying to adopt some of the advice in there. If it is to do with the cancer surgery, I am concerned about that too, I seem to be in remission at the moment, but aware Pancreatic cancer is capable of some nasty surprises.
I do wonder though if the increased meds and all that alkaline etc in my system will aggravate the dumping syndrome or not. Mind you, I know a lot of people with PD suffer from nausea too, so is my diagnosis right or wrong?
Going back to the PD, and my online support group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/174448966439575/ Parkinsons Support and Friendship UK,
I see daily the negative effect PD has on my friends. Depression and anxiety is high among group members, from slight depression and worry to full-blown anxiety which can be so destructive.
https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/information-and-support/anxiety
It is widely recognised and acknowledged, and from sufferers family perspective must be so cruel.
So, as to the immediate future, I need to get my knee replacement done so I can start to recover, but talking to the medical secretary it ain't gonna be soon. Treliske put a stop on elective surgery in the spring to save money and to help the very busy A&E department. They still have not caught up so she suggests it will be months not weeks before I get a date. Not helping this is the fact I tested MRSA-positive so can only have the surgery in Treliske Hospital so a long wait is still ahead I fear.
Well, this has been a bit of a catch-up, thanks for reading, do feel free to share this blog with others.
I will post an update very soon and maybe some more poetry.... you have been warned lol
Take care one and all and be nice to each other.
Monday 22 January 2018
I have lapsed in writing this little blog of mine,
don`t know why, but couldn`t find the time.
That`s an excuse I hear you loudly call,
Well yes, you are right I have no excuse at all.
So back in the saddle this blogger goes
to try and be more organised in my prose
That`s an excuse I hear you loudly call,
Well yes, you are right I have no excuse at all.
22/02/2028 (c)
Sunday 25 June 2017
What is Hope?
There is this 4 letter word we all use so much, we use it everyday,
but what does it mean this four letter word that means so very much?
but what does it mean this four letter word that means so very much?
Is hope a dream, an unobtainable star that taunts us from afar? or is it within our reach, something we can almost touch.
We hope for peace, that elusive cure, peace on earth and so very much more,
We hope for peace, that elusive cure, peace on earth and so very much more,
Does hope trickle through our fingers like the white tropical sand,
Or is it as solid as the granite that typifies the Cornish land.
Is hope as liquid as the warm tropical sea?
Or is hope like an iceberg to the Titanic,
A never event, beyond our wildest fears.
Or is it as solid as the granite that typifies the Cornish land.
Is hope as liquid as the warm tropical sea?
Or is hope like an iceberg to the Titanic,
A never event, beyond our wildest fears.
Maybe hope is like a comforter to the young,
We need to see it, embrace it, to keep us from harm,
but I think hope is like the recurring dream, and somehow beyond our reach,
We need to see it, embrace it, to keep us from harm,
but I think hope is like the recurring dream, and somehow beyond our reach,
Yet without hope this 4 letter word, where do we hang our dreams.
Our aspirations, our desires, our reason for carrying on?
So friends keep hope within your reach don`t ever let it go,
because believe me, someday, somehow, somewhere,
our hopes our dreams our prayers will become just one.
Our aspirations, our desires, our reason for carrying on?
So friends keep hope within your reach don`t ever let it go,
because believe me, someday, somehow, somewhere,
our hopes our dreams our prayers will become just one.
TJB 26/06/2017 (C)
Saturday 8 April 2017
A Dawn walk in the woods
Fewer blessings can there be than walking the woods at dawn,
The air is fresh,and clean,
Mother nature has blessed us all, with another brand new morn.
The air is fresh,and clean,
Mother nature has blessed us all, with another brand new morn.
The dawn chorus welcomes as we walk beneath the trees,
the earth smells clean and fresh,
The tree tops they are filled with song, carried on the breeze.
the earth smells clean and fresh,
The tree tops they are filled with song, carried on the breeze.
As the sunlight filters the wood, the night life slips away,
The badgers and the foxes too, head back into their den.
They hunted well, their cubs await, to sleep away the day.
The badgers and the foxes too, head back into their den.
They hunted well, their cubs await, to sleep away the day.
The cry of the crows flying past, on ragged wings so high,
I spy the first spring bluebells too, looking for the sun,
Soon they will adorn the woods,a carpet oh so blue,
The beauty of nature, a miracle to my eye.
I spy the first spring bluebells too, looking for the sun,
Soon they will adorn the woods,a carpet oh so blue,
The beauty of nature, a miracle to my eye.
The sun so fresh, highlights the trees on high,
like a blazing beacon that heralds the dawn
as the world wakes from its sleep.
a new day, a new dawn, a new start has begun.
like a blazing beacon that heralds the dawn
as the world wakes from its sleep.
a new day, a new dawn, a new start has begun.
TJB 08/04/2017 (c)
Tuesday 4 April 2017
The thing about helping others
is that it`s a selfless act,
no need for please or thank you,
you care and that`s a fact.
is that it`s a selfless act,
no need for please or thank you,
you care and that`s a fact.
When you offer to help someone,
no matter how near how far,
you offer the hand of friendship,
No matter what age you are.
no matter how near how far,
you offer the hand of friendship,
No matter what age you are.
We all have friends in facebook
most we never shall meet,
separated by oceans
or even across the street.
most we never shall meet,
separated by oceans
or even across the street.
But still we say `good morning`
hello, and have a good day,
to me thats an act of friendship
It helps us on our way.
hello, and have a good day,
to me thats an act of friendship
It helps us on our way.
So offer that hand of friendship
to someone new each day.
you never know, that little act
might just make someones day.
to someone new each day.
you never know, that little act
might just make someones day.
TJB 4/4/17 (c)
Saturday 25 March 2017
A poem about our Parkinsons group
Why do I love this group?
So, why do I love this group? the answer is easy,
Why, It`s the fantasticle group members of course.
from all over the world they find us then ask to join,
most then stay with us, we hope with no remorse.
So, why do I love this group? the answer is easy,
Why, It`s the fantasticle group members of course.
from all over the world they find us then ask to join,
most then stay with us, we hope with no remorse.
The admin team, well we are a proper mixed crew,
we have Ellis the menace who loves the group meets,
loves pasties and cream.a true friend of mine
we have a good laugh, though we can disagree,
to the group she is loyal as most of us will see.
we have Ellis the menace who loves the group meets,
loves pasties and cream.a true friend of mine
we have a good laugh, though we can disagree,
to the group she is loyal as most of us will see.
And then we have Paula,with the creative bent,
she loves baking cakes, and is the group socialite,
she is a loyal friend, and a good team player,
cross her at your peril, and to Coventry you are sent.
she loves baking cakes, and is the group socialite,
she is a loyal friend, and a good team player,
cross her at your peril, and to Coventry you are sent.
And we have `S `what can I say, she is cool.
The methodical one, not much gets past her.
a wise head on those shoulders, a scientific head.
She gives excellent help for those that ask her,
a close friend of mine, we often talk a great deal
good advice she will offer, but will suffer no fools!
The methodical one, not much gets past her.
a wise head on those shoulders, a scientific head.
She gives excellent help for those that ask her,
a close friend of mine, we often talk a great deal
good advice she will offer, but will suffer no fools!
And now we have Russ, the new kid on the block,
he is finding his way, being admin is not that easy.
The young onset big `P` that`s his great motivation.
His determination and vigor should carry him far,
fighting for justice that the young onset deserve.
I think old established opinions are in for a shock!
he is finding his way, being admin is not that easy.
The young onset big `P` that`s his great motivation.
His determination and vigor should carry him far,
fighting for justice that the young onset deserve.
I think old established opinions are in for a shock!
Who else is there in the admin team, oh yes it`s me,
well, what can I say, that hasn`t been said?
I will fight for group members, you are ALL my friends.
So proud of this forum, and the way it has grown,
we have a good laugh, alongside all the woes
this group is an outlet from our daily grind you see.
well, what can I say, that hasn`t been said?
I will fight for group members, you are ALL my friends.
So proud of this forum, and the way it has grown,
we have a good laugh, alongside all the woes
this group is an outlet from our daily grind you see.
So there you go, I have been on a roll,
this poem is nothing like I intended it to be!
It was going to be about you the members you see,
but, another day another rhyme 2 hours this has taken.
Just to say you guys all rock and the other admins too,
It`s given me a focus, taken over my life,
We may have the Big P, but he doesn`t have us,
together we will fight, we will shout, and we will cuss!
TJB 24/3/17 (c)
this poem is nothing like I intended it to be!
It was going to be about you the members you see,
but, another day another rhyme 2 hours this has taken.
Just to say you guys all rock and the other admins too,
It`s given me a focus, taken over my life,
We may have the Big P, but he doesn`t have us,
together we will fight, we will shout, and we will cuss!
TJB 24/3/17 (c)
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